The present invention relates to a coating apparatus, and particularly to an apparatus for coating strip material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for limiting wastage of liquid coating material by the coating apparatus.
Coating apparatus are configured to apply a coating onto material. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,312 to Cornell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,028 to Cornell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,752 to Hahn et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,300 to Keys et al.
According to the present invention, a coating apparatus for coating a moving strip of material with liquid coating material comprises a liquid coating material supply unit configured to dispense liquid coating material and a coater configured to dispense liquid coating material provided by the liquid coating material supply unit onto the moving strip of material. The coating apparatus further includes recycle means for returning liquid coating material dispensed from the coater to a position in the coating apparatus upstream of the coater.
In preferred embodiments, the recycle means include a collector for collecting liquid coating material dispensed from the coater, a director for directing liquid coating material received from the collector either to the liquid coating material supply unit or to a liquid usage detector, and a filter arranged to receive liquid coating material from the collector and discharge that liquid coating material to the director.
The coater includes an upper applicator overlying the moving strip of material and a lower applicator underlying the moving strip of material. The collector includes an upper recovery receptacle arranged to collect liquid coating material dispensed from the upper applicator and a lower recovery receptacle arranged to collect liquid coating material dispensed from the lower applicator. Each of the upper and lower applicators includes a coating discharger made of felt and configured to apply liquid coating material onto the moving strip. The recycle means further includes means for swinging the upper recovery receptacle along a path between a recovery position in which the upper recovery receptacle is positioned under the upper applicator and a storage position away from the recovery position.
Additional features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention.